Longest time for a track to reach No.1 on the UK’s Official Singles Chart

“Running Up that Hill (A Deal with God)” by Kate Bush (UK) took 36 years 310 days to reach No.1 on the UK’s Official Singles Chart. The track debuted at No.9 on 17 August 1985 before climbing to its peak position of No.3 two weeks later. It returned to the countdown in 2012 (peak position No.6, after featuring in the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in London) and again in 2014 (peak position No.51) before finally crowning the chart on 23 June 2022 after appearing in Season 4 of the Netflix TV series Stranger Things.

“Running Up that Hill” was Bush’s second UK chart-topper, after debut single “Wuthering Heights” scored four weeks at No.1 in 1978. The lead single from her fifth studio album Hounds of Love (1985) wiped “Last Christmas” by Wham! from the record books after the festive favourite had taken 36 years 23 days to make it to No.1 on 7 January 2021. It had first charted on 15 December 1984.

Elvis Presley’s three re-issued 2005 singles – “Jailhouse Rock”, “One Night”/”I Got Stung” and “It’s Now or Never” – took longer to return to No.1 in the UK, with “Jailhouse Rock” achieving it after 46 years 337 days, but “Running Up that Hill” endured the longest trek to No.1 from the time of a single’s initial release.

As of 23 June 2022, “Running Up that Hill” had spent a total of nine weeks in the UK Top 10, 13 weeks in the Top 40 and 20 weeks in the Top 100.